| 1. |
- Vidner, Olle, 1990-
(författare)
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On Multi-Disciplinary Optimization in Engineer-to-Order Product Configuration
- 2023
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Customized products are becoming increasingly common, and increasingly important for maintaining a competitive advantage in certain industries. Being able to quickly and accurately respond to unique customer requirements can provide a competitive edge or even be the only path to survival. In practice, configurators are commonly used to manage the customization process, gathering the customer’s requirements and suggesting feasible solutions to the customer’s problem.Fostering and maintaining a viable product customization offering is not easy. A particularly challenging category of products is one where an extensive engineering effort might be needed to even produce a reliable estimate of the product’s price. These products are usually referred to as engineer-to-order (ETO) products.Prior work has pointed out the potential of using optimization as part of configuration solutions for ETO products, but the literature is limited in its extent and does not clearly prescribe how to structure and approach such solutions.This thesis outlines a conceptual and technical architecture for implementing optimization-based configuration solutions. Reusable primitives for supporting the routines involved in this architecture are provided. These findings are verified through application and evaluation within two industrial case studies, also yielding important industrial needs to cover in the future research and development of the proposed framework. By examining three additional case studies, common issues in the development and deployment of design automation (DA) systems are identified.Successful implementation of the proposed framework for optimization-based configurators can lead to two main benefits. First, engineering configurator prototypes can be developed rapidly, to test the viability of configurator projects – a category of projects prone to expensive failures. Second, optimization-based configurators can be used to support rapid design space exploration in early product development stages, leading to enhanced product knowledge in a critical phase, and in turn, increased product value.
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| 2. |
- Gustafsson, Erik, 1993-, et al.
(författare)
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Comparison of Design Automation and Machine Learning algorithms for creation of easily modifiable splines
- 2020
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Ingår i: Proceedings of NordDesign 2020, Lyngby, Denmark, 12th - 14th August 2020. - : The Design Society. - 9781912254088
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In order to enable easy modification of results from a design optimization process in a CAD tool, a flexible representation of the geometry is needed. This is not always trivial however, since many file formats are not importable as modifiable geometry into the CAD tool, and if they are, they might not represent the geometry in a way that enables easy modification. To mitigate this problem a design automation (DA) and a machine learning (ML) approach are developed and compared using a test case from an optimization process used to optimize hose routing in tight spaces. In the test case used, the geometry from the optimization process consists of center curves represented as a large number of points. To enable easy modification a more flexible representation is needed such as a spline with a few well-placed control points. Both the DA and ML approach can approximate center curves from the optimization process as splines containing a varying number of control points but do show different properties. The DA approach is considerably slower than the ML but adds a lot of flexibility regarding accuracy and the number of control points used.
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| 3. |
- Gustafsson, Erik, 1993-
(författare)
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Exploring Data-Driven Methods to Enhance Usability of Design Optimization
- 2022
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Developing high-performing products at a low cost while keeping development time down is increasingly important in today’s competitive market. The current state presents a need for efficient product development processes. One of the challenges is knowledge often being limited in early stages where the cost of making changes is still relatively low. As the process progresses more knowledge is gained to better support decisions; however the cost of making changes increases, limiting the design freedom. To increase knowledge while retaining design freedom, several computer-based tools are available to both generate and evaluate designs in order to make iterations faster and more accurate.Design Optimization (DO) can be utilized to explore the design space and find optimal designs. A Computer-Aided Design (CAD) model is often required as input to analysis tools evaluating the designs. By utilizing Design Automation (DA) several tasks involved in creation and modification of CAD models can be automated. For this reason, DA is sometimes considered an enabler for DO although its use is far wider, covering several aspects of the design process mainly focusing on automating repetitive and routine tasks.Machine Learning and other data-driven methods are becoming increasingly viable in the context of DO and DA. This thesis explores the use of data-driven methods to enhance the usability of DO in different ways such as a faster process, new use-cases, or a more integrated and automated process. Literature in the area is reviewed, identifying applications, trends and challenges. Furthermore, two support tools are developed, incorporating data-driven methods tied to an industrial case. The applications focus on parameterizing geometry and predicting design performance respectively. Potential benefits, limitations, and challenges are discussed based on the literature review and insights from the two support tools. The focus of the thesis is mainly on how data-driven methods can facilitate automation and integration in the design process, specifically for complex products requiring significant engineering efforts.
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| 4. |
- Hallberg, Peter, 1974-
(författare)
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On Knowledge Creation and Learning at the Intersection of Product Development and Engineering Education
- 2021
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Today’s demands on higher engineering education given the rapid transformation of society are, to say the least, multifaceted. Rapidly increased complexity of technology as well as adaptation to sustainability requirements are causing major transformations and mergers of whole domains of technology that strongly impact current and future engineering workforces within these domains, in particular, the need for new competencies. To adapt to industry demands for engineering competence that fits new constellations of technology domains, providers of advanced engineering training – i.e., engineering faculties – need to inventory their toolbox for ways to support knowledge creation processes. Product development theory is a central part of many types of academic engineering programs. However, as the product development process itself is a process of knowledge creation, it also has strong relations to theories of learning. This thesis explores the idea that some of the tools of engineering that are also taught at engineering faculties and therefore are familiar to their members can beneficially be applied to the development and management of engineering curricula. This thesis explores the domains of product development theory, engineering education and learning analytics in search of overlapping approaches to knowledge creation. The outcome of this search, which are also the result of this thesis, is a set of proposed tools, measures, and approaches for the development, management, content, and arrangement of engineering curriculum. The main contributions focus on the use of physical artifacts and their contribution to engineering educational frameworks, such as the Conceiving – Designing – Implementing – Operating (CDIO) initiative. For this purpose, the thesis picks up on a previously developed concept of low-cost demonstrators for the establishment of a formalized learning and enabling platform that promotes implementation and execution of the CDIO framework. Furthermore, by adopting a similar approach to product development and learning theory, additional tools are identified and developed for curriculum adaptation, enhancement, and management. In particular, by examining the curriculum from previously unexplored perspectives followed by establishment of novel measurements, this thesis demonstrates how curriculum developers and program managers can increase their insights into the outcomes of their decisions.
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| 5. |
- Vidner, Olle, 1990-, et al.
(författare)
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Configuring Customized Products with Design Optimization and Value-Driven Design
- 2021
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Design Society. - : Cambridge University Press. - 2732-527X. ; , s. 741-750
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In order to efficiently design and deliver customized products, it is crucial that the process of translating customer needs to engineering characteristics and into unique products is smooth and without any misinterpretations. The paper proposes a method that combines design optimization with value-driven design to support and automate configuration of customized products. The proposed framework is applied to a case example with spiral staircases, a product that is uniquely configured for each customer from a set of both standard and customized components; a process that is complex, iterative and error-prone. In the case example, the optimization and value-driven design models are used to automate and speed-up the process of delivering quotations and design proposals that could be judged based on both engineering characteristics as well as their added value, thereby increasing the knowledge at the sales stage. Finally, a multi-objective optimization algorithm is employed to generate a set of Pareto-optimal solutions that contain four clusters of solutions that dominate the baseline design. Hence the decision-maker is given a set of optimal solutions to choose from when balancing different economical and technical characteristics.
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| 6. |
- Vidner, Olle, 1990-, et al.
(författare)
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Multidisciplinary Design Optimization of a Mobile Miner Using the OpenMDAO Platform
- 2021
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Design Society. - : Cambridge University Press. - 2732-527X. ; , s. 2207-2216
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper proposes an optimization framework based on the OpenMDAO software library intended for engineer-to-order products and applies it to the conceptual design of a Mobile Miner. A Mobile Miner is a complex machine and a flexible alternative to Tunnel Boring Machines for small-scale tunneling and mining applications. The proposed framework is intended for use in early design and quotation stages with the objective to get fast estimates of important product characteristics, such as excavation rate and cutter lifetime. The ability to respond fast to customer requests is vital when offering customized products for specific applications and thereby to stay competitive on the global market. This is true for most engineer-to-order products and especially for mining equipment where each construction project is unique with different tunnel geometries and rock properties. The presented framework is applied to a specific use-case where the design of the miner's cutter wheel is in focus and a set of Pareto optimal designs are obtained. Furthermore, the framework extends the capabilities of OpenMDAO by including support for mixed-variable formulations and it supports an exploratory approach to design optimization.
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| 7. |
- Wehlin, Camilla, 1992-, et al.
(författare)
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Multi-objective optimization of hose assembly routing for vehicles
- 2020
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Design Society. - : Cambridge University Press. ; , s. 471-480
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper presents a method for multi-objective optimization of hose assembly routing. Hose routing is a non-trivial task which demand a lot of iterations, especially with the increased complexity in modern vehicles. The proposed method utilizes design automation through multi-objective optimization of routing assemblies containing multiple hoses. The method is intended as a decision support and automation-tool, that reduces the number of iterations needed. The method has been implemented and tested on a case, concerning a set of hoses in an engine compartment, showing credible results.
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| 8. |
- Wehlin, Camilla, 1992-
(författare)
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Optimization-Based Configurators in the Product Development Process
- 2021
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Requirements from the market on customer responsiveness and pressure on the environmental profiles of companies, both internally and externally, are challenging companies to amend their processes in all possible aspects in order to stay competitive. For product development companies, the challenges often lie in developing and delivering products rapidly, customized and meeting the set requirements. For highly customized products, mass customization is a term describing a company setting in which products meet each customer’s individual requirements but are still produced and delivered at near mass-production efficiency. The concept of mass customization is becoming a prerequisite for the survival of companies within this niche. For more complex engineering products, the complexity increases as new technology is introduced, which needs to be integrated to increase the product’s performance at a rapid pace. Also for complex products, the level of customization is increasing, which motivates the support of tools enabling an increase in customization.In both mass customized and complex products, the obstacles to overcome are the repetitive resource inefficient work, knowledge capture and reuse, uncoordinated processes, and a high number of iterations between departments within the company. This often boils down to the well-established so-called design paradox describing the lack of knowledge about a product and process in the early stages of design, where the design freedom is still high. As knowledge increases throughout the process, the design freedom in contrast shrinks, and the costs of changes increase exponentially. Design automation, design optimization and the use of configurators are all methods used to reduce repetitive work, increase and capture knowledge, and integrate the product development process.This thesis presents how configurators based on optimization can be used and integrated into the product development process of engineering intensive configurable products and components, such as engineer-to-order (ETO) products. Design automation and design optimization have been identified as key building blocks to extend the use of configurators. This has been done in two different application cases within two different research projects, to evaluate how these configurator systems may be modeled and utilized. The first application case concerns the automation of hose routing in vehicles and the second application case concerns spiral staircases intended for mass customization.
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| 9. |
- Wiberg, Anton, 1991-, et al.
(författare)
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A Design Automation Framework Supporting Design for Additive Manufacturing
- 2023
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the ASME 2023 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference IDETC-CIE2023. - Boston, Massachusetts : ASME Press.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This scientific paper introduces a Design Automation (DA) framework that streamlines the Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) process. The framework is designed to simplify the creation and evaluation of different design options by automating geometry creation using high-level CAD templates and setting up and connecting Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) models to perform functional and manufacturing evaluations. By considering manufacturing constraints early in the design process, the framework aims to investigate various design alternatives and facilitate design changes late in the development process without additional manual work. This framework provides a comprehensive view of the entire DfAM process, integrating everything from functional requirements to manufacturing evaluation and preparation into the same design automation framework. To demonstrate the usefulness of the framework, the authors used it to design a hydraulic pump. Compared to the original design, the design created with the proposed framework reduces pressure drop by more than 50% and reduces the pump's weight by 35%. Furthermore, on an assembly level, the framework consolidates four components into two and eliminates two sealings. In summary, the Design Automation framework introduced in this paper simplifies the DfAM process by enabling automation of geometry creation and the setup and connection of CAE models. The framework facilitates the exploration of different design alternatives early in the process, considering manufacturing constraints, and enables design changes later in the development process without manual work. The benefits of the framework are illustrated through the design of a hydraulic pump, where it achieved significant improvements in performance, weight, and assembly complexity.
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| 10. |
- Wiberg, Anton, 1991-, et al.
(författare)
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An optimisation framework for designs for additive manufacturing combining design, manufacturing and post-processing
- 2021
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Ingår i: Rapid prototyping journal. - : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 1355-2546 .- 1758-7670. ; 27:11, s. 90-105
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present a Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) methodology that connects several methods, from geometrical design to post-process selection, into a common optimisation framework.Design/methodology/approach - A design methodology is formulated and tested in a case study. The outcome of the case study is analysed by comparing the obtained results with alternative designs achieved by using other design methods. The design process in the case study and the potential of the method to be used in different settings are also discussed. Finally, the work is concluded by stating the main contribution of the paper and highlighting where further research is needed.Findings - The proposed method is implemented in a novel framework which is applied to a physical component in the case study. The component is a structural aircraft part that was designed to minimise weight while respecting several static and fatigue structural load cases. An addition goal is to minimise the manufacturing cost. Designs optimised for manufacturing by two different AM machines (EOS M400 and Arcam Q20+), with and without post-processing (centrifugal finishing) are considered. The designs achieved in this study show a significant reduction in both weight and cost compared to one AM manufactured geometry designed using more conventional methods and one design milled in aluminium.Originality/value - The method in this paper allows for the holistic design and optimisation of components while considering manufacturability, cost and component functionality. Within the same framework, designs optimised for different setups of AM machines and post-processing can be automatically evaluated without any additional manual work.
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